In The Time After The War
by Caseyrook
Summary: Hawkeye battles alcoholism and his psychiatric issues, Charles brings another Winchester into the world but has problems, Margaret has a stalker formerly called Ferret Face, BJ has trouble in his Californian paradise and Father Mulcahy, Colonel Potter and Klinger settle down in Missouri al a After MASH. All the character reunite, one way or another. Col Blake sort of plays a role.
1. This Is Getting Old, Benjamin

**Author's Note: This is my first M*A*S*H story, I plan on adding all the other characters eventually but as of right now it'll focus on Hawkeye for awhile. I don't think Hawkeye would have totally gotten over the war and the events of Goodbye, Farewell and Amen so this story is what I think would have happened. I warn you its not going to be a totally happy one. There wont be any character deaths, but Henry Blake will play a role posthumously. Oh and I'm going to try to stick to canon.**

Hawkeye Pierce had been home from the war in Korea for six months. The house he shared with his dad was quiet as he came in from the back door. He chose the back door because it was quieter and closer to his room. He couldn't have his dad see him like this. Not again.

He was drunk and reeked of three different kinds of alcohol but he had made this walk in this so many nights that he was almost certain he could make it to bed without incident.

He thought wrong, as freezing cold water came from nowhere in the dark and soaked him. It was sobering.

Hawkeye shivered as the kitchen lights came on and his dad appeared standing in the doorway leading to the living room. Hawkeye squinted, his eyes had been used to the dark for over an hour.

"This is getting old, Benjamin." Daniel Pierce said with a tone that reminded Hawkeye of Colonel Potter. Daniel dropped the metal bucket he was holding, it made a loud banging sound as it crashed on the linoleum floor.

Hawkeye put his hand on his forehead and pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and sat down. "I'm a grown man, dad. I can drink if I want to. It's not against the law." Water dripped from his near shoulder length hair, covering the table.

Daniel sat down too. Hawkeye made an effort to adjust his position so that he wasn't looking directly at his dad, but his dad put his hand on his sons shoulder forcing him to look.

"You're acting like a child."

Hawkeye looked at the table bringing his hand back on his forehead. "I want to forget dad. So far alcohol is the only way to do that without leaving the car on in the garage with me in it."

Daniel dropped his stern demeanor and developed a caring one. One that was more his character than his stern one. "Hawkeye, I know you know that drinking only works for a little while. You drink some more and then that doesn't work you drink again. It's a cycle, a vicious one that's killing you, and possibly those patients that you're refusing to see."

Hawkeye sighed. He didn't want to hear it so he planned to stay quiet so his dad would get his anger and frustration out and let Hawkeye go to sleep. It had worked before.

Daniel knew that was his sons plan so he reached over the small table and grabbed his sons cheek and shoulder and forced him to look at him again, "Damn it listen to me! I AM not going to sit here for the rest of my life and let my son drink his life and career away. If you can't handle what happened over there with something other than booze or suicide, we have a problem."

There was a silence and Hawkeye knew his dad wanted his to say something. Finally he did. "Dad no patient wants a doctor who went looney and had to be put away in a war zone."

"_That's your problem?_" Daniels tone, expressed real disbelief.

"Yes. That's my problem." Hawkeyes tone mimicked his father like a teenager.

Daniel reached over the table again, only this time he smacked his son across the face with an open hand. Hawkeye jumped, absolutely shocked at what his father just did. It was more sobering than the water. In all his life that was the first time that his father had hit him hard enough to actually hurt. Anytime he was hit as a kid it was a soft wakeup call but this was the real thing.

Hawkeyes cheek stung. He looked at his dad. "Either you sober up and at least show up to work or I'm getting Sidney Freedman here with commitment papers in hand."

Daniel left the room and turned off the lights. Hawkeye sat in the dark, if he was still drunk, he didn't feel like it any more.

In the morning Hawkeye woke to an unbelievable hangover, however he had grown used to it by now. This is how he woke up every morning.

The house was dim. Daniel had purposely left the lights off, but kept the window blinds open. Any light in the house came from outside. Hawkeye went to the counter and poured a warm cup of coffee from a new coffee maker the likes of which Hawkeye had never even seen until he got home.

He sat at the table in the same spot he sat in the night before. Hawkeye took a drink from his cup and watched a boat go off in the distance. Hawkeye had been gone so long he had forgotten how beautiful the Atlantic ocean was.

His father was quiet, usually the old man would at least say good morning. Today he wasn't saying anything.

Hawkeye didn't like it, finally he spoke. "Did you mean what you said last night?"

Daniel kept his attention on the _Crabapple Cove Courier _and ignored Hawkeye. Hawkeye sighed, he really screwed up this time he thought to himself as he decided to finish his coffee and sneak away.

He gulped the last of the hot drink, and began to get up. Finally his dad spoke. "Do you actually plan on leaving the house today for something other than getting drunk?"

Hawkeye was half way up and the question caught him off guard. "Well no…."

Daniel picked a big bag off the floor. "Good. Put these on."

Inside the bag Hawkeye found a white lab coat and new clothes. Hawkeye looked up at his dad quizzically.

"You got a job with the county. Congratulations."

"A job with the county doing what?" Hawkeyes stomach dropped a little.

"Seeing people who live on welfare. The county keeps a doctor on staff to do stuff like physicals, vaccinations, checkups and the occasional necessary surgery. The patients don't pay you, the county will."

Hawkeye sat back down. "How can I get a job without applying or going to an interview?"

Daniel put his paper down. "Easy. A buddy of mine asked. He said he always gives vets jobs first, and you're the only available surgeon in the whole county."

"I thought you were retiring and giving your practice to me..."

Daniel crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "What do you care? You're happy staying home and drinking your life away."

"When do I start?"


	2. Winchesters Roof Top Date

At the same time Hawkeye was getting his shoulder length hair cut and his grizzly man Adams beard shaved by his dad, Charles Emerson Winchester the Third was performing a routine appendectomy.

His specialty was in thoracic surgery but lately Charles found himself being hand chosen to operate on Boston's upper class citizens. He loved it. Not only did operating on these kinds of patients mean a big check, it also meant his social standing would rise.

He also loved an artist named Mary. He met her at an art gallery that he attended with his sister Honoria. Honoria became friends with Mary right away.

Their friendship became more like a sisterhood and one night Honoria dared Charles to ask Mary out. It was a double dog dare. "How childish" Charles said but went through with the dare anyway secretly crushing on Mary from afar and knowing that his mother and father approved.

The only fault Charles could find in Mary was her fanatical almost obsessed love of the Boston Red Sox, she insisted on listening to every game, and as a present Charles bought her season tickets and a better quality radio to listen to away games while she painted her magnificent and beautiful landscapes.

After he finished removing the organ Charles hated the most, the appendix, Charles met Mary in the hospital waiting room and led her into the elevator.

"Say nothing." Charles said with his finger on his lips. Mary was both intrigued and suspicious as the elevator went as high as it could. When they stepped out, Charles grabbed Mary's hand gently and led her to a flight of stairs, at the top was a door.

Once opened Charles and Mary were on the hospitals roof, a table sat complete with a picnic basket, plates, utensils, napkins and candles.

It was after sunset and the city of Boston was lit like a perfect painting. Charles held Mary's chair out as she sat and then sat down himself. He opened the basket and pulled out chicken wings fried a perfect gold, with corn on the cob and perfectly cooked mash potatoes. He knew these were Mary's favorite.

As he made her plate, Charles noticed a look of unease and discomfort on Mary's face. "What's the matter, my love? Is this all too much?"

Mary smiled reassuringly, "No. This is lovely, amazing even. It's just I have something on my mind."

Charles scooped mashed potatoes on the plate he was holding and spoke, "Oh yeah? What's that?"

Mary replied with a mix of happiness and reluctance, "Our baby."

Charles had been looking down at what he was doing but now he looked at Mary. This had definitely caught him off guard. "You're…with child?"

"Yes. Is that bad?"

"No, no, no that's the best news I've heard since the war was over."

"Then why are you acting like your unhappy?"

"I'm not unhappy. It's just that we're not married."

Mary understood immediately. "I know, we'll tell your parents you proposed and have a wedding right away. Then we'll tell them I'm carrying a little Winchester."

Charles was really happy and satisfied with this idea. He leaned over the table, "Do we tell Honoria?"


	3. Oh Frank

**OT: I've started school for the semester so this story won't always come in long chapters like chapter one. However I will try to insert at least one long chapter from time to time. Also this story has so many characters and different locations that I'm finding it hard to fit all the stories together and remain in canon and still make sense so the chapters will bounce around a lot and most of the time some characters will be missing. Bear with me though, please. PLEASE REVIEW!**

Hawkeye's sobriety was hard on his body. He woke up three days after his dad's ultimatum and realized in confused and shaking moments that for the first time in his life as a physician, he knew what delirium tremens were. And he realized quickly, they sucked.

Daniel came into Hawkeye's room and sat on the bed and held his son whose body was shaking uncontrollably. Daniel held onto his son tightly, he was afraid Hawkeye would hurt himself from not being able to control his body's movements.

"I'm going to take you to The Treatment Center." Daniel said, in a way that left no room for protest.

Hawkeye had to struggle to find the words he was looking for, but managed. "No Dad, I just got out of a hospital. If I go back in, they may never let me back out."

As he finished his sentence Hawkeye noticed that three bugs were crawling on his arm. He could feel each and every one of their legs touching his skin as they made their way from his wrist up past his elbows. To his horror he saw they had friends, thousands of them and they all were on their way to his head…

BJ sat at the landing of a flight of stairs in an empty corner of a hospital that was at least thirty years older than him. He was wearing white cotton surgical scrubs. If anyone from the Army had seen him, they would swear he was back in Korea.

BJ was so glad to be home he couldn't describe it, but lately he found his mind wandering back to Korea. Not because he missed Korea itself, but because he missed his family from Korea...especially Hawkeye.

BJ missed having a best friend. Peg was his friend of course but even she couldn't fill the void where Hawkeye used to be. She was his wife and that was amazing but she just couldn't satisfy BJ's desire for a real friend. In some ways BJ felt lonely.

He thought about this until he was interrupted with, "Dr. Hunnicut we need you in OR 3."

That night Erin, Peg and BJ sat at the dinner table. Peg knew immediately that BJ's mind was not on the pork chops and mashed potatoes for dinner. "Are you alright, honey?"

BJ nodded halfheartedly. "I don't know, it just feels like I'm missing something."

Peg smiled a small bit. "You're missing Hawkeye and the others."

BJ reddened a little kind of embarrassed. "I guess I do. It's weird. I was with them and I missed you. Now I'm with you and I miss them."

Peg took Erin's spoon and put it in her hand the correct way. "You could call Hawkeye you know. I have his dad's phone number after all."

After dinner, BJ did call Hawkeye. Well he tried anyway.

"Hello?" Daniel said, on the opposite side of the country.

"Hello, Mr. Pierce this is BJ Hunni…"

"Oh BJ I know who you are and I've never even formally met you."

BJ laughed, sort of relieved. "Is Hawkeye home? I'd like to talk to him."

BJ could hear Daniels mood change just by his voice. "I'm afraid you can't. Ben is in the hospital."

BJ's stomach dropped in the same way it dropped when the two MP's carried Hawkeye off to the Psychiatric Hospital in Tokyo. "Oh my god! Is he alright?"

"No, no, no he's alright. Ben…um…well he drank too much and quit too soon. "

After that BJ began planning a trip he was going to take to Maine.

"You is all here Doc, does that mean I'm not all there?" Hawkeye sat up in his bed and leaned against the wall. This hospital was mainly a treatment hospital for alcoholics and drug addicts so he couldn't believe it when he saw Sidney standing in the door way to his room.

Sidney sat next to Hawkeye on the bed. "This room is not as cozy as the one in Tokyo."

"Seriously, Sidney. Why are you here?"

"You were due for a checkup anyway. The Army requested that I keep up to date with my more memorable patients."

Hawkeye stood up. He was still sick from the DT's but they had given medicine that worked well in treating the symptoms. "Well I'm not here because of the Army."

"I'm here as a friend."

Margaret Houlihan was a Lieutenant Colonel now and it struck her as she was walking home to her small apartment on base, that if he was still alive and in the service, Henry Blake would not outrank her now. That made Margaret feel both sad and happy all at once.

Finally she came to her apartment and opened her door. That's when she noticed that her entire house had been ransacked. She panicked, believing it to be the work of McCarthyist agents. After all she had been a known associate of a communist subversive.

Frank Burns was in his car driving just five minutes from the base gate. He held one hand on the steering wheel and the other in his pocket where he could feel the underwear that he stole from Margaret's dresser…

The wedding had been small compared to the normal upper class weddings that frequented Boston, but it was so sudden that only close family and friends and the most important of acquaintances showed up to the Winchester Wedding.  
Honoria had served as the maid of Honor and Charles best friend, Jonathon had served as best man. Charles would never admit it to anyone but he had always hoped that those two would get married too.

Charles was off on the side by himself. It was the reception now and he was watching his parent's slow dance to a magnificent piece of band music coming from the real band playing across the way. His parents had spared no expense and two of the band members, the pianist and the violinist, were members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Even now those notes and those instruments made Charles mind wander back to those Chinese musicians and as always those musicians led him back to the days in the Swamp. Charles had admitted one thing to Honoria, he did miss Pierce and Hunnicut.

In fact on his first night back home, he couldn't sleep because he had grown so used to hearing both of them toss and turn and shift in their cots.

"Where does your mind go I wonder?" Mary said, sneaking up on Charles in her beautiful white, laced and strapless wedding dress.

"I was thinking of my parents. They've grown so different in my absence I'm starting to worry about them." Charles lied because he didn't like anyone to know that he thought of Korea often, and he didn't want to worry Mary, especially not when she was expecting.


End file.
